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John Cabot University’s Center for Career Services & Continuing Education is your bridge between your academic and professional careers. Whether you want to pursue further study in graduate school or hope to begin a career, we can help you achieve those goals.Fri, 14 Apr 2017 08:19:26 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/c8c91cd9eb4091605df94302a65314a5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngCenter for Career Services & Continuing Educationhttps://jcucareerservices.wordpress.com
The Importance of Professional Networking – Face to Face Interactionshttps://jcucareerservices.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/the-importance-of-professional-networking-part-one/
https://jcucareerservices.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/the-importance-of-professional-networking-part-one/#respondThu, 13 Apr 2017 14:07:38 +0000http://jcucareerservices.wordpress.com/?p=2424]]>The Importance of Professional Networking – Face to Face Interactions

University years are aimed at providing you with the theoretical notions and solid academic background, which are the foundations of your professional development.

Besides that, these years represent the time to start building your network, since you have the chance to meet different people every day, professors, company representatives and other fellow students. Networking is a paramount aspect for the development of your career path: how can you maintain all these relationships once you graduate, and how can you expand them?

Following you can find some tips on how to expand and cultivate your network:

Keep in touch with professors and fellow students: after graduation, keep in contact with your professors, your thesis readers and your fellow students. Send an email, make a phone call, and drop by school to say hi. Take some time to update them on your academic and professional accomplishments and ask them about theirs. You will never know where your professional path, as well as your classmates’ and your professors’, will lead you all in the future: maybe you will work together in the future;

Attend events: lectures, seminars, events, round tables. These are the perfect occasions to update your knowledge, to interact with people from your field and know other professionals. Do not be afraid to ask for advice, to inquire about what the other participants do, to exchange contacts, to tell them about your experience;

Network with people from different backgrounds: each of us moves more confidently in a certain field of expertise, which is built through academic and professional experience. However, the art of networking means also ability to establish professional relations also with people with backgrounds other than yours. Very often, the interaction between people from different fields creates the most interesting working experiences;

Consider your friends and family as part of your network: a common mistake is overlooking friends and family members. Actually, these are your first connections! Do not consider them just for your personal relationship with them. Besides that, they are professionals and they have their own professional networks.

Finally, keep always in mind that networking is not just about receiving but also about giving. Be open and show interest in regards to what the others do. Offer them help or solutions and they will be more willing to do the same with you when you need it.

A job interview is an occasion to know more about the position you have applied for and to understand if your job expectations can be met. This is why you should get prepared for the moment, usually at the end of the interview, when you will be asked: “Do you have any question?”

Five questions that can help you get a better idea about the company and position are:

What struck you about my application profile? This question is very important for several reasons. First, it gives you an idea of what kind of candidate the company is looking for. Secondly, this will allow you to stress your strengths during the rest of your interview, or in the next interviews. Finally, it will help you understand which kind of tasks they would like you to perform;

Should you hire me, whom am I going to work with? With this question you will get an idea of the company structure and environment, of who your colleagues would be, and of the position itself, if it is more based on teamwork or individual work;

What would my typical working day look like? It is very important that you understand what tasks they would like you to perform. This is a first step to realize if your expectations match your actual future occupation;

What are the most challenging aspects of this position? The answer to this will give you a wider perspective of the position they are offering. In addition to the main tasks you will have to perform, it is very important for you to know the trickiest aspects you will have to cope with, so that you can prepare to face them at your best;

What are the future projects of the company? Knowing the plans is useful to understand if the company is aiming towards expansion and growth. In this case, it will be more likely for you to have a chance to develop your career and advance in the organization.

Job interviews require you to have an active role in the interview and exploit this occasion to give the right direction to your career path!

We have already explained extensively how to write a successful cover letter and what to include in it.

This time, however, we would like to share with you some of the most recurring mistakes in cover letters. After all, the best way to improve is to learn from your mistakes!

Wrong date: this is one of the most common errors. If you rework an old cover letter as a starting point, you should never forget to check that the date is correct, otherwise, the employer will think that you lack attention to detail;

Wrong company name: this is the most compromising mistake you can make. Misspelling the company’s name, or, even worse, giving it the name of another company will lead your application directly to the trash, as soon as the employer reads it;

No self-introductionin the opening paragraph: omitting your basic information in the first line of your letter, like your name and who you are, is like meeting your potential employer in person and starting talking about yourself without even shaking her/his hand;

Same content for all your applications: even though you probably think that a general cover letter will spare you from writing a new one for a new position, be aware that the employer will notice this choice. It will not make a good impression on the reader realizing that you did not put any effort in customizing your letter for his/her company;

Repetition of the CV: if you just repeat your technical skills, without enriching your presentation with your soft skills, you are throwing away your chance to appeal the reader with some traits about you that could not be included in the CV;

No thanks and no call to action at the end: the closing paragraph is as important as the introductory paragraph. If omitting your self-introduction is like not shaking your interlocutor’s hand at your first meeting, the lack of thanks or call to action at the end corresponds to leaving without saying goodbye;

No signature at the end: even if you already wrote your name in the heading of your letter and on your resume, you should never forget to put your signature at the bottom.

Have you ever made any of these mistakes?

They are very common oversights, but they can affect negatively the outcome of your application. Next time you write a cover letter, keep them in mind and you will have a much more effective application.

On Tuesday, February 28th, John Cabot University’s Center for Career Services & Continuing Education organized the seminar “Principles of Coaching,” held by Isabelle Alpi, International Business & Executive Coach, and President of EMCC Italia (European Mentoring and Coaching Council). EMCC is a nonprofit association providing best practices, standards and guidelines in mentoring and coaching not only for the benefit of coaches and mentors, but also for supervisors, training schools, managers, companies and academic institutions.

As explained by Ms. Alpi, coaching is a new discipline, very closely connected to and inspired by the much older practice of mentoring. Mentoring, indeed, dates back to Ancient Greece, precisely to Omer’s Odyssey, when Ulysses, before leaving for Troy, left his son Telemachus in the hands of his friend Mentor, who was supposed to look after him during Ulysses’ absence. Mentor was impersonated by the Goddess Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Mentoring, hence, has to do with building one’s own wisdom, one’s own experience and knowledge.

The very nature of coaching and mentoring is to raise responsibility and (self-) awareness in order to help people find their own unique way of using their mind and body to address life, work, challenges, etc.

As a management style, coaching can result in a culture change from a “blame culture” to a “responsibility culture,” by giving people choice for their actions, regarding error as an opportunity for learning and encouraging continuous improvement and development. Since coaching is about raising a sense of responsibility and (self-) awareness in the coachee, coaches do not give advice on what to do, but instead they try to trigger deep thought.

Being aware means being able to understand a situation or a subject at the present time, based on experience and information. When you are aware, and self-aware, you are able to control your environment and yourself, and not to let things control you. Once the coachees raise their own awareness, they are able to see new options from which they can choose, which creates responsibility in them.

The coach achieves these goals through presence and active listening and by asking effective questions, which are specific, thought provoking and promote attention and observation in the coachee. The coach uses empathy, his ability to read body language and a non-judgmental attitude in order to create deep rapport and connection with the coachees, so that they feel free to express themselves.

The reason why the Center for Career Services & Continuing Education at John Cabot University decided to host this seminar is that “self-awareness and responsibility are two pillars in the development of professional and career skills”, as explained by Professor and Director of the Career Services Center Antonella Salvatore. We thank again Mrs. Isabelle Alpi for sharing her mastery with John Cabot University’s community.

The Center offers over 40 seminars and events throughout the academic year in order to foster its mission to help students and alumni prepare for and successfully enter the workforce. Learn more about the calendar of Spring and Summer 2017 seminars and events and sign up now!

Dimentica.me is a service of web reputation management offered by the startup SAFE WEB Srl, founded on February 10th, 2017 and created by John Cabot University’s Professor Stefano Gazziano, one of the first experts in the internet and Web Reputation.

As explained by three of the start-up founders, “the name Dimentica.me refers to the company’s mission: defending the integrity of those online identities damaged by online libels. Dimentica.me focuses on contrasting online defamation; removing libeling web contents; defending damaged social media reputation; rebuilding and managing web reputation; reversing SEO.”

Before starting their Continuing Education path, Alessandra and Fabrizio got their MSc in Law, and Edoardo got his BA in Industrial Engineering. In their experience with Dimentica.me, they were able to combine the theory they learned during their university studies with the new practical notions of the Continuing Education Course in Management. Thanks to their combined skills, they constitute now a well-rounded team, which, together with the scientific committee, is always ready to address and solve the problems of Dimentica.me’s clients.